The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation grant supported the publishing of Preservation Long Island’s latest book, Elias Pelletreau: Long Island Silversmith and Entrepreneur, 1726-1810.Released in November 2018, the book explores the life and work of one of early America’s most accomplished rural artisans. The publication of this book allowed Preservation Long Island to advance its mission to educate the public about Long Island’s contribution to history and to meaningfully contribute Long Island subject matter to a greater body of knowledge.

The lavishly illustrated work provides the most comprehensive study to date of Pelletreau’s remarkable career and illuminatesthe Pelletreau family’s impressive legacy of surviving objects and business records, offering a fresh perspective into the world of patronage, commerce, and industry in colonial and revolutionary-era Long Island, New York City, and the broader colonial world. 

This publication makes a significant contribution the history of New York and early American material culture and elevates a rural 18thcentury Long Island craftsman to the national stage. For residents of Long Island, the book may serve as a source of pride for knowing Elias Pelletreau was one among very few rural silversmiths to operate at this scale.